Sunday, January 19, 2014

Decree 770 of Ceausescu

Romania, 1966
– the communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu just took power a year ago. As the new
leader of Romania he aimed to make Romania independent from the influence of
its powerful neighbor, the Union of Socialist Republics or the USSR. To break
free from the Soviet hegemony, economic independence was crucial. One way to
achieve economic independence was to have a large population that could drive a
consumer-led growth and increase of work force. However, abortion was legal and
prevalent in Romania. In order to reverse the abortion trend, Ceausescu
resorted to abolish it with his Decree 770.

The Decree
770 of Nicolae Ceausescu was aimed at increasing the population of Romania. It
was signed on October 1966 and it was to bring increase in the birthrate with
various incentives to those who bore many children and restriction and ban to
abortion and contraceptives. The implementation of the decree enters all
aspects of life, especially job, health care, and education. It did brought the
wanted baby boom but with a heavy cost.

In
1966, when Ceausescu signed the decree, it reversed the liberal reproductive
control measures of the country. It made abortion available only to limited
women. Those who could only have abortion were women who were 40 years old
(raised to 45 years old on 1986), who have 4 or more children, and who’s life
were endangered by pregnancy. These were designed to decrease abortion rates
dramatically.

Other
than restricting abortion, the decree also unleashed many other schemes to
encourage pregnancy and birth and discourage contraception and abortion. For
example, contraceptives were banned across the country. Sex education was
widely censored by the government. Also, childless couples were charged with
higher taxes and discriminated in jobs and in health care. Divorce was also
made difficult. Furthermore, women must have mandatory pregnancy test every
month in their working places and if pregnant, her pregnancy will be monitored. To
give incentives to pregnant women, awards systems were set up. Awards were given
to those who bore many children and raised them. Those who had brought to the
world and raised five to six children were given the Maternity Medal. Women who
gave birth to seven to nine children were given the Order of Maternal Glory.
Finally, the most prestigious title of Heroine Mother was given to mothers who
gave birth and raised children of ten.

Besides
incentives and surveillance, the Ceausescu government also used law and
punishment to discourage abortion and contraception. For instance, women who
conducted self-induced abortion were to face 6 months up to two years
imprisonment. Possession of contraceptives and abortifaceints would also be
sentenced to imprisonment. Moreover, women who had defective abortion won’t
receive any treatment unless they report who conducted the abortion. Also,
doctors who conducted abortion who performed abortion because of health reasons
of the patient and failed to report to higher authorities would face one to
three months imprisonment. To make sure that the policies were implemented very
well, officers of the Securitate, the secret police of Romania, were assigned
to watch over in hospitals. Many more laws that punished abortion and
contraception were implemented alongside.Many
women, however, were not deterred from undergoing abortion. Some women found
ways to have abortion or better yet miscarriages. Some swallowed soap bubbles
to induce miscarriage. Some put needles in their uterus to kill the fetus. But
those who are desperate had an underground abortion where the conditions they
face were operations without anesthetics and proper instruments.The
Decree 770 did brought some success in raising the population but it cost the
country many lives of women. Romania experienced a baby boom through the years
of Nicolae Ceausescu but it began to end in 1980’s where the birth rate began
to decrease. The Decree also killed thousands of women by the end of the
regime in 1989. The death was caused by illegal abortions and miscarriages that
were conducted and happened. Because of this, the decree became infamous
throughout the world and showed the brutality of Ceausescu.See Also:Mussolini's Battles: The Battle for BirthsBibliography:

David, H. From Abortion to Contraception : A Resource to Public Policies and Reproductive Behavior in Central and Eastern Europe From 1917 to the Present. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1999.Deletant, D. Ceauşescu and the Securitate: Coercion and Dissent in Romania, 1965-1989. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1995.Kligman, G. The Politics of Duplicity: Controlling Reproduction in Ceausescu's Romania. California: University of California Press.Litosseliti, L. & J. Sunderland. Gender Identity and Discourse Analysis. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Pub., 2002.Tolz, V. & S. Booth. Nation
and Gender in Contemporary Europe. New York: Manchester University Press,
2005.